Systems and methods for administering comprehensive protection plans

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods means and computer program code for administering comprehensive protection plans are provided which include a computer system to process an insurance claim, the system having a first policy database storing policy data associated with a first type of insurance, a second policy database storing policy data associated with a second type of insurance, a requestor device and a claims processing system for receiving an insurance claim associated with a customer, determining that the claim involves a single loss event and more than one type of property damage, retrieving from the first policy database, information associated with a first policy of the customer and at least a second policy of the customer, the information including a first deductible associated with the first policy and a second deductible associated with the second policy, determining which of the first and second deductible to apply to the claim, and updating the first and second policy databases based on the determined deductible.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims benefit of and priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/252,887 filed on Oct. 19,2009 and entitled “System and Method for Administering ComprehensiveProtection Plans”, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference for all purposes.

FIELD

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for administeringcomprehensive protection plans.

BACKGROUND

Insurance companies offer a great number of insurance coverages, policyterms, and options. As a result, it can be difficult for an insuranceagent or customer to determine appropriate insurance coverages, limitsand deductibles for a particular insurance need. For example, in atypical personal lines automobile policy, an agent or customer mustselect from among different deductibles, different terms, and differentpolicy add-ons (such as roadside assistance, or the like). Selecting themost appropriate combination of terms and coverages can be difficult. Itwould be desirable to provide a package or bundle of policy optionswhich make it easier for an agent or customer to select the mostdesirable policy package.

Many customers have multiple policies. For example, many homeowners haveboth a homeowner policy as well as one or more automobile policies.Insurers typically underwrite and administer these different types ofpolicies using different systems. Each of the policies typically hasdifferent deductible options. However, in many claim or loss situations,a customer suffers a loss that affects several different policies. Itwould be desirable to provide systems and methods that allow a singledeductible to be applied to such a claim. It would further be desirableto provide systems and methods which allow insurers to update differentpolicy systems to reflect the application of such a single deductible toa claim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system architecture within which some embodimentsrelating to policy issuance and decisioning may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a partial functional block diagram of a computer systemprovided in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a system architecture within which some embodiments relatingto claim processing may be implemented.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a tabular representation of a portion of a data recordaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a outward view of an interface to present comprehensiveprotection plan options according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Applicants have recognized a need for insurers to provide a package orbundle of policy features for insurance policies, such as automobilepolicies. Pursuant to some embodiments, a bundle or package of policyfeatures are provided which provide improved benefits and advantages topolicy holders and policy issuers. Such a comprehensive protection plan,pursuant to some embodiments, includes a number of policy rules andcriteria which allow the policy features to be combined and issued as abundle or package to qualified applicants. Pursuant to some embodiments,the policy rules and criteria also include rules and criteria whichallow the issuance of policy features that cross product types. Forexample, in some embodiments, policies may be issued which providecoverage for situations where an insured suffers a covered loss to morethan one kind of property in a single loss event. In such situations,pursuant to some embodiments, only one deductible may apply to thecovered loss, even though the loss affects more than one policy orproperty type. In this manner, embodiments allow more predictable andstraightforward issuance of new policies. Further embodiments allowreduced pricing for certain policy holders who carry insurance coveragefor multiple property types.

Features of some embodiments will now be described by first referring toFIG. 1 which illustrates a system architecture 100 within which someembodiments may be implemented. More particularly, FIG. 1 depicts asystem architecture 100 in which comprehensive protection plans may bequoted, priced, issued and managed. Although the devices of architecture100 are depicted as communicating via dedicated connections, it shouldbe understood that all illustrated devices may communicate to one ormore other illustrated devices through any number of other public and/orprivate networks, including but not limited to the Internet. Two or moreof the illustrated devices may be located remote from one another andmay communicate with one another via any known manner of network(s)and/or a dedicated connection. Moreover, each device may comprise anynumber of hardware and/or software elements suitable to provide thefunctions described herein as well as any other functions. Othertopologies may be used in conjunction with other embodiments.

According to the example architecture shown in FIG. 1, a number ofrequestor terminals 110 are provided which comprise devices that may beoperated by an insurance agent, a consumer, etc. seeking arecommendation of insurance coverages or information about policies suchas personal lines insurance policies. Requestor terminals 110 mayinteract with Web pages provided by Web server 134 to request arecommendation and to provide data relating to the kinds of property tobe insured, as well as the customer. This data may be transmitted to theinsurance systems 130 to determine a recommendation as described indetail below. More particularly, pursuant to some embodiments, therequests and applications may be associated with requests for personalline insurance policies (such as, for example, automobile policies andhomeowner policies). The requests may be received from individuals orentities seeking insurance coverage or for requests for insuranceinformation. For example, with respect to applications for automobileinsurance, the application data submitted via a requestor terminal 110may include information identifying the vehicle for which coverage issought, information about the insured, information about the limits andother options requested, or the like, but embodiments are not limitedthereto.

As used herein, an insurance coverage “package” may comprise a set ofone or more insurance coverages or policy features. Each of the one ormore insurance coverages or features may insure against one or morerisks, or provide one or more benefits. In the present description, aninsurance coverage defines the parameters of the risk(s) which arecovered thereby, and a configuration is a package of one or moreinsurance coverages, including specified limits and deductibles for eachof the one or more insurance coverages.

Any number of requestor terminals 110 may be employed to receivecustomer and insurance request data and to present insurance coverageand other information to operators of the requestor terminals 110.

The requestor terminals 110 may be in communication with an insurancecompany 130 or other provider via a Web server 134 or other front endinterface that allows remote terminals to send and receive data to theinsurance company. The customer and insurance request data are receivedvia the Web server 134 and are stored by data warehouse 120 for lateraction. Any number or type of data storage systems may store the data inany suitable manner according to some embodiments. Non-exhaustiveexamples include a relational database system, a spreadsheet, and anyother data structure that is amenable to parsing and manipulating data.Data warehouse 120 may receive and store customer and application dataas well as store insurance coverage package data and rules which areused in the quoting engine 126 and the configuration engine 122.

The configuration engine 122 acts to receive the customer or insurancerequest data and to retrieve insurance coverage package data and rulesfrom the data warehouse 120. Configuration engine 122 may identify oneor more insurance coverage packages based on the received data and ondata received from Web server 134. Pursuant to some embodiments,different insurance packages are assembled for presentation to thecustomer based on configuration rules and information associated witheach policy term.

When an appropriate package (or packages) is identified by theconfiguration engine 122, the package may be priced using the quotingengine 126 and then presented to the customer or agent via a Web page orother user interface for viewing on a display screen of a requestorterminal 110. An illustrative example of a user interface 600 that maybe displayed on a screen of a requestor terminal 110 is shown at FIG. 6.As shown, the user interface 600 displays several packages of featuresthat are compatible and appropriate for a customer. In particular, theuser interface 600 includes two packages that have been identified(e.g., by the system 100) as being available to a consumer seekingautomobile insurance. The package identified as item 602 has a number ofpolicy features which are compatible and which result in an overallpremium of a first amount, and the package identified as item 604 has anumber of policy features which are compatible and which result in anoverall premium of a second amount. In the user interface shown, ascript is dynamically generated for the agent to explain the differencesbetween the two packages.

One difference is the pricing difference between the two packages. Inthis manner, agents and other representatives (and even customersthemselves) may easily create packages of policy features that havedesirable benefits to customers. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that a wide variety and type of user interfaces may beprovided, and that the user interface 600 is provided for illustrativepurposes only.

Referring again to the system of FIG. 1, each of the engines 122, 124,126, 128 and the insurance systems 130 may comprise any combination ofhardware and/or processor-executable instructions stored on a tangiblemedium. According to some embodiments, one or more of the engines 122,124, 126 or 128 may be a component of the data warehouse 120 or theinsurance systems 130.

It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the devicesillustrated in FIG. 1. Each device may include any number of disparatehardware and/or software elements, some of which may be located remotelyfrom one another. Functions attributed to one device may be performed byone or more other devices in some embodiments. The devices of system 100may communicate with one another (and with other non-illustratedelements) over any suitable communication media and protocols that areor become known.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer system 200 according to someembodiments. Computer system 200 may perform the functions attributedabove to the configuration engine 122. Computer system 200 includescomputer processor 201 operatively coupled to communication device 202,data storage device 204, one or more input devices 206 and one or moreoutput devices 208. Communication device 202 may facilitatecommunication with external devices. Input device(s) 206 may comprise,for example, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse or other pointing device, amicrophone, knob or a switch, an infra-red (IR) port, a docking station,and/or a touch screen. Input device(s) 206 may be used, for example, toenter information into computer system 200. Output device(s) 208 maycomprise, for example, a display (e.g., a display screen) a speaker,and/or a printer.

Data storage device 204 may comprise any appropriate information storagedevice, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g.,magnetic tape and hard disk drives), optical storage devices, and/orsemiconductor memory devices such as Random Access Memory (RAM) devicesand Read Only Memory (ROM) devices.

Data storage device 204 stores program instructions for execution byprocessor 200. Configuration engine 210 may comprise a set of suchinstructions, and may be executed by processor 201 to cause system 200to operate as described above with respect to configuration engine 122of FIG. 1. This operation may initially include operation ofcommunication device 202 to retrieve, from external data storage device220, policy rules and criteria including, for example, no drop rules211, deductible rules 212, replacement rules 213, repair rules 214, oraccident forgiveness rules 215 (in the case of a configuration engineused for underwriting personal lines automobile policies, for example).In some embodiments, and as described with respect to FIG. 1, datastorage device 220 may comprise a data warehouse.

Data storage device 204 may store other data used and/or generatedduring operation according to some embodiments. For example, the datastorage device 204 may store data including configuration rules,homeowner policy rules, or the like. The nature and usage of this storeddata according to some embodiments will be described in detail below.

Each of the rules stored in the system 200 may include data defining apolicy feature, as well as data identifying the availability of thepolicy feature in combination with one or more other policy featuresinto a package of features. For example, the following individual policyfeatures may be provided, some of which may be combined into one or morepackages of features. In some embodiments, rules associated with a“no-drop promise” feature may be specified as rules 211. Pursuant tosome embodiments, this policy feature may be added to auto insurancepolicies issued using the present invention and may be combined withcertain other policy features to create a package. The policy featuremay include terms indicating that, regardless of the number of trafficconvictions or accidents an insured or a listed operator has during thepolicy period, the policy will be renewed. Some exceptions may includesituations where the insured (or a covered operator) is convicted ofdriving under the influence or impaired, has a suspended or revokedlicense, or is physically or mentally incapable of operating a vehicle.

A further example of a policy feature is a “RecoverCare” feature.Pursuant to some embodiments, this policy feature may be added to autoinsurance policies issued under the present invention and, in somesituations, may be combined with other policy features to create apackage. The RecoverCare feature may provide insured consumers withreimbursement for home services in the event the insured is injured inan accident. In some embodiments, the insured may receive reimbursementsof a predetermined amount (e.g., up to $2,500 over six months, in oneembodiment) for home services including house cleaning, shopping, lawncare, dog walking or the like. In some embodiments, the policy featuremay include terms specifying the type of services that are reimbursable,the amount, the term, and any preferred vendors. In some embodiments,certain services may receive preferential treatment such as “green”discounts in the event a service provider uses “green” (orenvironmentally-friendly) products.

A further example of a policy feature is a “Lifetime Repair Guarantee”feature (e.g., such as item 214 of FIG. 2). Pursuant to someembodiments, this policy feature may be added to auto insurance policiesissued under the present invention and, in some situations, may becombined with other policy features to create a package. In someembodiments, the policy feature provides a lifetime guarantee for allrepair services conducted under the policy so long as an approved vendoris used to perform the repair services.

A further example of a policy feature is a “Roadside Assistance”feature. Pursuant to some embodiments, this policy feature may be addedto auto insurance policies issued under the present invention and, insome situations, may be combined with other policy features to create apackage. The policy feature may terms specifying the nature of roadsideassistance benefits to be provided under the policy.

A further example of a policy feature is a “New Car ReplacementGuarantee” feature (such as item 213 of FIG. 2). Pursuant to someembodiments, this policy feature may be added to auto insurance policiesissued under the present invention, and may provide an insured with areplacement guarantee for new vehicles for a specified period of timeand/or for a specified amount of usage. In some embodiments, the featuremay be combined with other compatible features to create a package. Forexample, the policy feature may include the following terms: adefinition of what a “new auto” is (e.g., such as a vehicle purchased bythe insured with less than 150 miles on it), a specified period of time(such as 15 months from the purchase of a new car), and/or a specifiedamount of usage (such as 15,000 miles), a qualifying event (e.g., suchas a “total loss” or theft), and a benefit (e.g., such as the lesser ofthe replacement cost of the vehicle and the amount necessary to replacethe new auto).

A further example of a policy feature is a “12-Month Policy” feature.Pursuant to some embodiments, this policy feature may be added to autoinsurance policies issued under the present invention and, in somesituations, may be combined with other policy features to create apackage. The policy feature may include terms which lock in theinsured's rates for an entire year.

A further example of a policy feature is a “First Accident Forgiveness”feature. Pursuant to some embodiments, this policy feature may be addedto auto insurance policies issued under the present invention and, insome circumstances, may be combined with other compatible features tocreate a package. The policy feature may include terms specifying thatthe insured (or an authorized operator) will have any premium increase(that would have been assessed based on an accident) waived if certainconditions are met. For example, the waiver may apply if, at the time ofthe accident, the operator was free from at-fault accidents (e.g., theinsured was at least 50% responsible) and major traffic violations, forat least five years prior the effective date of the policy.

A still further example of a policy feature is a “DisappearingDeductible” feature. Pursuant to some embodiments, this policy featuremay be added to auto insurance policies issued under the presentinvention and, in some circumstances, may be combined with otherfeatures to create a package. The policy feature may include terms whichreduce the insured's deductibles until the deductible goes to $0 in somesituations. Further, in some embodiments, the deductible for somenot-at-fault accidents may be eliminated. Further still, in someembodiments, an insured's deductible may be reduced by an amount (suchas $100) if the insured uses an approved repair shop for any repairs.

In some embodiments, policy holders who have both auto and homeinsurance policies may enjoy disappearing or reduced deductibles basedon the combined policies. For example, in some embodiments, a combinedpolicy may include deductible reduction features where the policy holdermay receive a deductible reduction on his or her auto policy based onactivity on the home policy (or vice versa). In some embodiments,payment of a deductible amount on one of the policies (e.g., such as thehomeowners policy) may result in a waiver of all or a portion of thedeductible (in a given policy year, for example) on the other policy(e.g., such as the auto policy). Such interaction between differentpolicies (e.g., an automobile policy and a homeowner's policy) will bedescribed further below.

A still further example of a policy feature is a “Green” feature.Pursuant to some embodiments, a “Green” feature may be added to autoinsurance policies issued under the present invention and, in somesituations, may be combined with other features to create a package. Thepolicy feature may include terms which encourage the use ofenvironmentally friendly resources and vendors. The terms of such apolicy may specify discounts, premium credits, or lowered deductiblesfor the use or purchase of: a hybrid vehicle, a vehicle with desirablefuel efficiency, a vehicle used for commuting (where the policy holderagrees to use alternative forms of transportation a specified amount oftime, such as public transportation, walking, carpooling, or cycling).Policy terms may also specify preferred vendor rates or reimbursementsfor using vendors deemed “green” (e.g., for the use of reimbursableservices from a “green” house cleaner, or “green” vendors). In someembodiments, additional discounts, premium credits or lowereddeductibles may be offered for consumers who agree to go “paperless”(e.g., by receiving policies or notifications electronically, or byremitting premium payments using electronic fund transfer).

In some embodiments, the various policy features may be packaged intoone or more plans. For example, one plan may include the followingfeatures: No-Drop Promise, RecoverCare, Lifetime Repair Guarantee,Roadside Assistance, and New Car Replacement Guarantee. Another plan(e.g., having a higher premium or different underwriting criteria), mayinclude the same features as the first plan and also the 12-monthPolicy, First Accident Forgiveness, Disappearing Deductible, and theGreen Feature Other combinations and packages of features may also beprovided. Further, other features (not specifically described herein)may be provided along with corresponding rules and criteria for theircombination.

Pursuant to some embodiments, each of the individual features may beidentified by a feature identifier and each feature identifierassociated with a set of rules defining one or more packages the featureis compatible with. In some embodiments, each feature identifier isassociated with one or more rules defining which other features thefeature may be combined with. In some embodiments, each featureidentifier is further associated with one or more pricing rules,allowing the quoting engine (such as item 126 of FIG. 1) to construct anoverall quote based on a selected combination of features.

By applying one or more rules and configuration criteria, theconfiguration engine may respond to requests for insurance with policypackages having desirable pricing and feature sets. The policies may beaccepted by a customer and issued by the insurance company as normal.Once a policy has been issued, embodiments provide systems and methodsfor claim processing. More particularly, embodiments allow claims to beprocessed which involve more than one kind of property in a single lossevent. The processing of such claims will now be described by firstreferring to FIG. 3 which illustrates a claim processing architecture300 within which some embodiments may be implemented.

In particular, in the claim processing architecture 300 of FIG. 3, aninsured who has both a homeowner's policy and an automobile policy andwho has suffered a loss involving property covered by each of thosepolicies, is able to submit a claim which results in a single deductiblebeing applied to the loss. In prior systems, the insured would have hadto pay a deductible amount associated with the automobile policy as wellas a deductible associated with the homeowner's policy (even if a singleevent caused the loss to property covered by the two policies). Further,pursuant to embodiments of the present invention, even if the two (ormore) policies are managed or administered by separate systems, thecrediting of a single deductible across the policies will be reflectedin each of the relevant systems.

Although some devices of architecture 300 are depicted as communicatingvia dedicated connections, it should be understood that all illustrateddevices may communicate to one or more other illustrated devices throughany number of other public and/or private networks, including but notlimited to the Internet. Two or more of the illustrated devices may belocated remote from one another and may communicate with one another viaany known manner of network(s) and/or a dedicated connection. Moreover,each device may comprise any number of hardware and/or software elementssuitable to provide the functions described herein as well as any otherfunctions. Other topologies may be used in conjunction with otherembodiments.

According to the example of FIG. 3, policy sources 310 through 314 storepolicy information associated with insurance policies. Policyinformation may include any combination of policy-related data fieldsthat are or become known, including but not limited to policy type,policy number, insured name, deductibles, coverage limits, riders andexceptions. Each of policy sources 310 through 314 may comprise anycombination of hardware and/or software, including but not limited torelational databases, application servers, and spreadsheets. One or moreof policy sources 310 through 314 may comprise a policy issuing system,a data warehouse of an insurance company or any other aggregator ofinsurance policy information.

Pursuant to some embodiments, policy source 310 is a source of personallines automobile policies which have been issued by an insurer, andpolicy source 312 is a source of homeowner policies. As homeownerpolicies and automobile policies are typically maintained by separatebusiness groups of an insurer, different policy sources and systems(such as sources 310-314) may be maintained on separate platforms ordatabase systems.

Each of policy sources 310 through 314 may provide policy information tosystem 320 asynchronously or according to any schedule. In someembodiments, one or more of policy sources 310 through 314 provides adaily feed of policy information to system 320. The policy informationof the feed may be associated with new insurance policies for which aninitial premium has been paid.

System 320 may comprise any combination of hardware and software toperform processes as described herein. According to some embodiments,when an insured party submits a claim or request for information about apolicy, system 320 receives policy information associated with aninsurance policy from one of sources 310 through 314 and processes theclaim or other request. In the event that an insured party submits aclaim involving a policy issued pursuant to some embodiments, a processsuch as the process described below in conjunction with FIG. 4 may beperformed. In general, however, when a request is received involving apolicy stored in one of the policy sources 310 through 314, the data isretrieved and returned to system 320 for processing.

System 320, as well as claims management system 330 may comprise programinstructions of a database management system, database procedures and/ordatabase applications to process the data stored at those systems orretrieved by those systems. One or more administrator terminals 325 maybe operated to edit this data and to otherwise provide commands tosystem 320. For example, an administrator terminal 325 may be operatedto update a data structure including information associated with a claimor the like. Terminal 325 may comprise any suitable device, includingbut not limited to a desktop computer.

Claim management system 330 may receive policy records and associatedclaim handling identifiers from system 320. For example, portions ofseveral illustrative policy records that may be processed by claimsmanagement system 330 are shown below in conjunction with FIG. 5. Claimmanagement system 330 may receive a report of a claim associated with aninsurance policy and determine the claim handling identifier of therecord associated with the insurance policy. A customer servicerepresentative may use the claim handling identifier to assign the claimto the appropriate claim-handling organization. In this regard, customerservice representatives may operate terminals 340 and 344 to access therecords of claim management system 330. All terminals described hereinmay comprise any suitable devices for requesting and displaying userinterfaces, including but not limited to desktop computers, cellulartelephones, personal digital assistants, and laptops.

According to some examples, an insured individual suffers a loss whichinvolves property damage to both an automobile and a home (or multipleautomobiles and/or homes) and submits a claim to an insurance processingsystem 330 over a network interface (for example, the claim may besubmitted using a phone 350 or a computer terminal 355).

Whether the claim is submitted via a phone 350 or a computer terminal355, the claim request is routed to a telephone 342 associated with acustomer service representative. For example, the insured individual(who suffered automobile and property losses) may operate a telephone350 to call a claim-reporting telephone number provided by an insurancecompany. The call is passed through a network 360 (e.g., the PublicSwitched Telephone Network, a cellular network, and/or an InternetProtocol network) and terminates at telephone 342 of a customer servicerepresentative. Embodiments may also or alternatively provide claimreporting via one or more other communication modes, such as facsimile,electronic mail, or World Wide Web.

The customer service representative receives an identifier of theinsured's policy (e.g., policy number, social security number, etc.) andoperates a client application executed by terminal 340 to retrieve arecord of claim management system 330 associated with the policy. Thecustomer service representative determines a claim handling identifierof the record and assigns the claim based thereon. Depending on thenature of the claim handling identifier, assignment of the claim mayinclude providing a telephone number of a third-party administrator tothe insured or transferring the telephone call to a claim-handlingorganization of the insurance company. A process is then performed bythe claim management system 330 to determine if the claim relates to asingle deductible loss provision of the present invention and, if so,how the deductible should be determined and applied. The process isdescribed below in conjunction with FIG. 4.

The insurance system 300 of FIG. 3 may provide other administration andmaintenance features associated with policies issued pursuant to thepresent invention. For example, a system server 320 may operate toreceive and process policy change or update requests and may generate aninterface or display screens to allow faster and easier policy service.Agents and insureds may interact with the system 320 to manage customerspolicy changes in real-time by performing actions such as: (i) add,replace, delete or change vehicles, drivers, and coverages; (ii) quote“what if” scenarios and save them for later, (iii) provide an immediateor substantially real time confirmation on a wide variety of policychanges, (iv) view a billing breakdown, print ID cards and forms, etc.

Server 320 may also include a vendor interface to control communicationsbetween third party vendor systems and claim data associated with claimsprocessed using claims processing system 320. For example, a vendorinterface may facilitate communication to secure vendor services for acustomer who has initiated a claim. As a specific illustrative example,for a customer who has initiated a claim for total loss under anautomobile policy claim, and who has the New Car Replacement Guaranteepolicy feature in force, a vendor interface may provide the customerwith a list of preferred auto dealers in the customer's area (andsimilarly, may transmit a notification to one or more dealers of thecustomer's need for a new vehicle).

As another illustrative example, a vendor interface of server 320 mayinitiate a request, and secure an appointment, for an appraiser toinspect and appraise the damage to the customer's vehicle. In thismanner, by allowing direct interaction with third party vendor systems,server 320 may efficiently control all aspects of a claim process,ensuring that customers enjoy a greater quality of service, reduceddelays, and improved communication.

In some embodiments, server 320 may also include a notification moduleor code administering and applying notification and messaging rulesassociated with individual policies and policy features pursuant to thepresent invention. For example, the notification code may operate togenerate one or more notifications to insured customers or vendors. As aspecific example, all active policies stored in policy stores 310-314may be monitored to identify any upcoming “trigger” events or dates,such as the expiration or activation of a benefit (such as theactivation of an “expired deductible” benefit, or the expiration of anew car guarantee, etc.).

A number of notifications may be generated using the notifications codeof server 320. These notifications may vary depending on the policyfeature included in a policy or based on the package of policy featuresin a policy. For example, for insureds having the DisappearingDeductible and Combined Deductible features, an automated email orletter may be generated notifying the policyholder that their deductiblehas been lowered by $100 or disappeared as the requisite periods pass,e.g. six month, 1 year, etc. As another example, for insureds having theRecoverCare policy feature, automated notifications/reminders via emailor otherwise of existence of the coverage itself may be generated. Asanother example, for insureds having the New Car Replacement guarantee,automated notifications may be generated and transmitted to new cardealer in policyholder's zip code to contact policyholder and/or tie-into online car buyer's site provide recommendations of similar cars ifnecessary and other tie ins to dealer inventories to match car color andfeatures from in stock inventory.

As discussed above, the vendor interface code provides communicationwith third party vendors. In some embodiments, the vendor interface codeprovides a data feed integration for vendors related to the LifetimeRepair, and Disappearing Deductible since policyholder's enjoy a lowerdeductible if the policyholder chooses an approved vendor which thenimplicates the Lifetime Repair guarantee thus a data tie in betweenapproved vendor, insurance co and policyholder.

In some embodiments, policyholders may be provided with one or moreoptions to change features for other benefits, e.g. instead of gettingthe benefits of the Disappearing Deductible and Combined Home/AutoDeductible, an additional benefit amount may be added to (for example),the RecoverCare policy feature (e.g., increasing the amount from $2,500to $3,000, or the like).

It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the devicesillustrated in FIG. 3. Each device may include any number of disparatehardware and/or software elements, some of which may be located remotelyfrom one another. Functions attributed to one device may be performed byone or more other devices in some embodiments. The devices of system 300may communicate with one another (and with other non-illustratedelements) over any suitable communication media and protocols that areor become known.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of process 400 according to some embodiments.Various elements of system architecture 300 may execute process 400according to some embodiments. Process 400 may be embodied withinprogram instructions of claim management system 330, but embodiments arenot limited thereto.

Process 400 and all other processes mentioned herein may be embodied inprocessor-executable program instructions read from one or morecomputer-readable media, such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, aZip™ disk, and a magnetic tape, and then stored in a compressed,uncompiled and/or encrypted format. In some embodiments, hard-wiredcircuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, programinstructions for implementation of processes according to someembodiments. Embodiments are therefore not limited to any specificcombination of hardware and software.

Process 400 may be performed in response to a claim or loss notificationsubmitted by an insured individual (e.g., using the system of FIG. 3).More particularly, the process 400 is performed when a claim or lossnotification is submitted for a policy issued pursuant to embodiments ofthe present invention. The process, as will be described, allows aninsured individual to enjoy the benefits of a single deductible acrossdifferent policies and property types in the event of a single lossevent damaging properties covered under different policies. Further, theprocess allows an insurance company to efficiently and accurately tracksuch transactions so that policy data from different policy systems maybe updated to appropriately record the claims.

Processing begins at 410 where an insurance system (such as the system300 of FIG. 3, and more particularly, the claims processing system 330of FIG. 3) receives claim information and policy information. Forexample, the claim and policy information may include data submitted orotherwise provided by an insured (e.g., via a phone 350 or computer 355)to an agent or other representative (e.g., operating a phone 342 orcomputer 340). The claim information received may include informationidentifying the loss event and the property affected by the loss. Theclaim information may also include information about the severity of theloss and any related property loss resulting from the event. The policyinformation may include information such as a policy identifier oraccount number.

Processing continues at 420 where the insurance system determines theprogram ID based on the policy information received at 410. For example,in some embodiments, each policy may have an identifier associated withit that identifies a particular package of policy benefits. One of thepolicy benefits may be a “one deductible loss” provision which allows asingle deductible to be applied in the event of certain single lossevents. The program ID retrieved or identified at 420 may be used toidentify policies having such a one deductible loss provision, althoughthose skilled in the art will appreciate that other techniques may beused to identify the eligibility of policies for such a provision.

Processing continues at 430 where a determination is made of whether thepolicy is a “one deductible loss” eligible policy (e.g., by comparingthe program ID to a list of eligible program IDs). If the determinationis that the policy is not “one deductible loss” eligible policy,processing continues at 440 where the claim is processed as normal(e.g., claim processing will proceed without attempting to determine asingle deductible to use for the claim). If the determination at 430 isthat the policy is a “one deductible loss” eligible policy, processingcontinues at 450 where a determination is made whether the claim is asingle loss event involving more than one type of property damage. Thisdetermination may be made, for example, by an agent presenting a seriesof questions to the insured, by the insured responding to a series ofquestions in a survey or claim form, or the like. For example, a claimthat is presented that is based on fire damage to a home that alsodamaged the homeowner's automobile may qualify at 450 for furtherprocessing. In the example, the single loss event is the fire, and thetwo kinds of properties are the home and the automobile.

If processing at 450 indicates that there was not a single loss event orthe event did not involve more than one type of property damage,processing continues at 440 where the claim is processed as normal(e.g., claim processing will proceed without attempting to determine asingle deductible to use for the claim). If processing at 450 indicatesthat there was a single loss event and the event involved more than onetype of property damage, processing continues at 460 where the insurancesystem (or the claims processing system 330) determines the relatedpolicy numbers and related deductibles. This processing may beperformed, for example, by retrieving policy records from policy stores310-314. An example of related policy records are shown below inconjunction with FIG. 5. Related policy numbers may be retrieved by, forexample, looking up a common identifier associated with each of thepolicies issued to a consumer (in FIG. 5, an account ID is shown as thecommon identifier, but those skilled in the art will appreciate thatother identifiers and techniques may be used). When the related policiesare identified, processing at 460 include retrieving any deductiblerelated data for each of the policies.

Processing continue at 470 where the insurance system (or the claimsprocessing system 33) operate to determine the appropriate deductible toapply to the claim. A number of different rules and techniques may beused to determine the appropriate deductible in a given situation. Forexample, as an initial inquiry, a determination may be made whether onesingle highest deductible is available. That is, the deductible thatwill be applied is the single highest deductible applicable for any itemof covered property loss. When one single highest deductible is notavailable, then, in some embodiments, the deductible that will apply tothe loss may be determined as follows:

First, if more than one kind of property has a deductible equal to thesingle highest deductible the deductible that will apply is the one withthe highest earned “deductible reduction benefit”. Second, if more thanone kind of property has a deductible equal to the single highestdeductible and the earned “deductible reduction benefits” are equal, thedeductible that will apply is the one for the item with the largestmonetary loss. For example, in the fire loss example introduced above,the loss to the home is likely the largest monetary loss and thehomeowner's policy deductible will apply. Finally, if more than one kindof property has a deductible equal to the single highest deductible andno “deductible reduction benefit” is applicable, the deductible thatwill apply is the one for the item with the largest monetary loss.

Those skilled in the art will understand, upon reading this disclosure,that other techniques and rules may be used to identify which deductibleto apply when several items of property are involved, each havingdifferent deductibles.

Once the appropriate deductible to apply has been determined, processingcontinues at 480 where the policy data for each affected policy isupdated to reflect the applied deductible. In some embodiments,processing at 480 may require updating several different systems (e.g.,where policy data for different property types, such as home and autoare stored and maintained in different policy stores 310-314) toindicate the application of the deductible. For example, in thesituation where the deductible selected is one from the homeownerpolicy, processing at 480 may include setting a deductible credit flagor indicator in the associated automobile policy. In this manner, theinsurance systems may accurately track the application of deductiblesacross different policies pursuant to the present invention.

Processing continues at 490 where the claim processing procedures arecompleted as normal. The result is a system which allows the applicationof a one deductible loss provision to insurance policies even in thesituation where multiple policies stored in different policy stores areaffected. Consumers enjoy the benefit of a single deductible insituations where a loss event impacts multiple property types, andinsurers enjoy accurate records and consistency in claims processing.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which is a tabular representation of aportion of several policy records 502, 504, and 506 from severaldifferent policy data sources (such as policy sources 310, 312, and314). Each of the policy records 502-506 may be associated withpreviously issued insurance policies for which a claim or claim requestis being made (e.g., such as by a customer operating a telephone 350 ora computer 355 to report a loss). Each of the policy records 502-506include a number of data fields representing data associated with aparticular policy. Only several fields are shown for each policy recordfor convenience and ease of exposition—those skilled in the art willappreciate that a typical policy record may have more fields and dataelements.

Some or all of the data populating each policy record 502-506 may beobtained or generated during an insurance policy issuance process (suchas by the system 100 of FIG. 1) or during a policy renewal process. Forexample, when a customer applies for, and is issued, a new homeowner'spolicy, the system 100 assigns a policy ID and an account number totrack the policy and to associate the policy with a customer account.The system 100 also stores information associated with the terms of eachpolicy. For example, policy record 502 shows a portion of the dataassociated with a homeowners' policy issued to the customer havingaccount number “233121”. The policy has a deductible of $2,500 and thepolicy is associated with a package of benefits having an identifier of“xxxx”. The policy record 502 also stores a number of data elements notshown, such as other deductible limitations and amounts, exclusions ofcoverage, a specific identification of property covered, and the like.

The other policy records 504-506, as shown, relate to automobilepolicies issued to the same customer. Each of the automobile policieshave different deductible amounts, but all are issued pursuant to thesame package of benefits. The three policy records may be linked to eachother or identified as related in a number of ways, however, as shown,the three policy records are shown as related based on the accountidentifier. Embodiments are not limited to the fields shown in FIG. 5,and each data field need not be populated in some embodiments.

Embodiments of the foregoing may therefore provide efficientrecommendation of appropriate insurance coverage packages for a givenconsumer. Further, certain packages may provide a one deductible lossprovision that provides a single deductible in the event of a singleloss event impacting more than one kind of property.

As previously discussed, each of the rules stored in a system of thepresent invention may include data defining a policy feature, as well asdata identifying the availability of the policy feature in combinationwith one or more other policy features into a package of features. Forexample, the following individual policy features may be provided, someof which may be combined into one or more packages of features. In someembodiments, rules may be implemented associated with a “100% ProtectionPlan” where the insurer will pay the full cost to rebuild a home even ifit costs up to 150% of the applicable limits of the policy. Anotherfeature may include a “New For Old” protection of possessions where theinsurer will pay the actual cost of replacing possessions regardless ofage or condition with brand new items of equal quality. Another featuremay include a “ProtectorPLUS Homeowners Deductible Forgiveness” where ifa policy holders experiences a qualifying loss of $20,000 or more, theinsurer waives up to a certain amount such as $5,000 of the applicablehomeowners insurance deductible. Another feature that may be implementedincludes a 24/7 Homeowners Insurance Claim Hotline to provide insuredswith homeowners insurance claim professionals available any time of theday or night to assist with inquiries, claims or questions. Insureds orprospective insureds may also be given options to customize theirhomeowners insurance protection through special protection packages suchas through increased coverage for jewelry, silverware, credit cards,personal liability, lock replacement, identity theft and loss ofperishable food.

The embodiments described herein are solely for the purpose ofillustration. Those in the art will recognize that other embodiments maybe practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by theclaims.

1. A computer system to issue a comprehensive protection plan of atleast one insurance coverage package for an individual from among aplurality of possible insurance coverages, the system comprising: a datastorage device for receiving, storing, and providing access to insurancecoverage data and insurance coverage package data; a computer processorfor executing program instructions and for retrieving the insurancecoverage data and the insurance package data from the data storagedevice; a memory, coupled to the computer processor, for storing programinstructions for execution by the computer processor; a configurationengine comprising program instructions stored in the memory, forreceiving a policy request from an individual, and identifying one ormore of the plurality of insurance coverage packages based on saidpolicy request from said individual and based on a determination of thecompatibility of individual policy features in an insurance coveragepackage; a communication device, coupled to the computer processor, forpresenting the identified one or more insurance coverage packages andfor receiving a selection of a selected one of the insurance coveragepackages; and a policy record data storage device for storing a policyrecord associated with the selected insurance coverage package andassociating the policy record with at least one policy record of asecond insurance coverage package, where the selected insurance coveragepackage and the second insurance coverage package are for differentproperty types.
 2. A computer system according to claim 1, wherein theconfiguration engine further comprises program instructions for:generating pricing information for each of the one or more of theplurality of insurance coverage packages; and causing the pricinginformation to be presented in a graphical user interface forcomparison.
 3. A computer system according to claim 1, the configurationengine further to: receive a selection of one of the presented insurancecoverage packages; determine an alternative one of the insurancecoverage packages; and present a comparison of the alternative one andselected one of the insurance coverage packages.
 4. A computer systemaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one of the insurance coveragepackages includes a one deductible loss provision.
 5. A method ofoperating a computer system to process an insurance claim, the methodcomprising: receiving information identifying a claim and a firstpolicy; determining, based on said information identifying a claim, thatsaid claim involves a single loss event and more than one type ofproperty damage; retrieving, from a policy database, informationassociated with said first policy and at least a second policy,including a first deductible associated with said first policy and asecond deductible associated with said second policy; determining whichof said first and second deductible to apply to said claim; and updatingsaid policy database based on said determined deductible.
 6. The methodof claim 5, further comprising: determining, based on said informationidentifying said first policy, that said policy includes a shareddeductible feature.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein said determiningwhich of said first and second deductible to apply to said claim furthercomprises: identifying which of said first and second deductibles is thesingle highest deductible applicable for any item of covered propertyloss.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining which of saidfirst and second deductible to apply to said claim further comprises:determining that there is no single highest deductible among said firstand second deductibles; and identifying which of said first and seconddeductibles has the highest earned deductible reduction benefit.
 10. Themethod of claim 5, wherein said determining which of said first andsecond deductible to apply to said claim further comprises: determiningthat there is no single highest deductible among said first and seconddeductibles; determining that the first and second deductibles have atleast one of (i)the same earned deductible reduction benefit and (ii) nodeductible reduction benefit; and identifying the deductible associatedwith the property item having the largest monetary loss.
 11. The methodof claim 5, wherein said updating said policy database based on saiddetermined deductible further comprises: updating a record in a policydatabase associated with said first policy; and updating a record in asecond policy database associated with said second policy.
 12. Themethod of claim 5, wherein said first policy is an automobile policy andsaid second policy is a homeowners policy.
 13. The method of claim 5,wherein said information associated with said first policy is stored ina first policy database and said information associated with said secondpolicy is stored in a second policy database.
 14. A computer system toprocess an insurance claim, the system comprising: a first policydatabase storing policy data associated with a first type of insurance;a second policy database storing policy data associated with a secondtype of insurance; a requestor device; a claims processing system forreceiving an insurance claim associated with a customer, determiningthat said claim involves a single loss event and more than one type ofproperty damage, retrieving from said first policy database, informationassociated with a first policy of said customer and at least a secondpolicy of said customer, the information including a first deductibleassociated with said first policy and a second deductible associatedwith said second policy, determining which of said first and seconddeductible to apply to said claim, and updating said first and secondpolicy databases based on said determined deductible.
 15. The computersystem of claim 14, said claims processing system further comprising:determining, based on said information identifying said first policy,that said policy includes a shared deductible feature.
 16. The computersystem of claim 14, wherein said determining which of said first andsecond deductible to apply to said claim further comprises: identifyingwhich of said first and second deductibles is the single highestdeductible applicable for any item of covered property loss.
 17. Thecomputer system of claim 14, wherein said determining which of saidfirst and second deductible to apply to said claim further comprises:determining that there is no single highest deductible among said firstand second deductibles; and identifying which of said first and seconddeductibles has the highest earned deductible reduction benefit.
 18. Thecomputer system of claim 14, wherein said determining which of saidfirst and second deductible to apply to said claim further comprises:determining that there is no single highest deductible among said firstand second deductibles; determining that the first and seconddeductibles have at least one of (i) the same earned deductiblereduction benefit and (ii) no deductible reduction benefit; andidentifying the deductible associated with the property item having thelargest monetary loss.
 19. The computer system of claim 14, wherein saidfirst policy is an automobile policy and said second policy is ahomeowners policy.
 20. A computer system to issue a comprehensiveprotection plan of at least one insurance coverage package for anindividual from among a plurality of possible insurance coveragefeatures, the system comprising: a data storage device for receiving,storing, and providing access to insurance coverage data and insurancecoverage package data; a computer processor for executing programinstructions and for retrieving the insurance coverage data and theinsurance package data from the data storage device; a memory, coupledto the computer processor, for storing program instructions forexecution by the computer processor; a configuration engine comprisingprogram instructions stored in the memory, for receiving a policyrequest from an individual, and identifying one or more of the pluralityof insurance coverage packages based on said policy request from saidindividual and based on a determination of the compatibility ofindividual policy features in an insurance coverage package; acommunication device, coupled to the computer processor, for presentingthe identified one or more insurance coverage packages and for receivinga selection of a selected one of the insurance coverage packages; and apolicy record data storage device for storing a policy record associatedwith the selected insurance coverage package, wherein the selectableinsurance coverage package features includes a no-drop promise feature,a reimbursement for home services feature, a lifetime guarantee forrepair services feature, a roadside assistance feature and a new carreplacement guarantee feature.
 21. The computer system of claim 20wherein the selectable insurance coverage package features furtherincludes a 12-month policy feature, a first accident forgivenessfeature, and a disappearing deductible feature.
 22. The computer systemof claim 20 wherein the selected insurance coverage package includes ano-drop promise feature, a reimbursement for home services feature, alifetime guarantee for repair services feature, a roadside assistancefeature and a new car replacement guarantee feature, a 12-month policyfeature, a first accident forgiveness feature, and a disappearingdeductible feature.
 23. The computer system of claim 22 wherein theselected insurance coverage package features further includes 12-monthpolicy feature, a first accident forgiveness feature, and a disappearingdeductible feature.
 24. The computer system of claim 20, wherein saidpolicy includes a shared deductible feature with at least one otherinsurance policy.
 25. The computer system of claim 20, wherein theselectable insurance coverage package features further include a fullcost to rebuild a home feature, a payment for the actual cost ofreplacing possessions feature, and a deductible forgiveness feature.